By Barb Dorn
Something Rotten!, The Nebraska Communities Playhouse – Hickman Theater, Friday April 10, 2026
If you really know your musicals and truly enjoy musical theater and… you know what? Doesn’t matter. You will absolutely LOVE Something Rotten!
I confess, I had only a vague idea of the Rotten plot before last night, and it was positively delightful! So clever and quick and imaginative. Set in the 1590’s at the time of Shakespeare, the show focuses on two brothers struggling to become famous playwrights, like, you know who. An hilarious set up just rich in possible material.
But here’s the thing – with this cast (and crew and direction and music and set and the costumes and the fabulous auditorium at NCP… OH and I must not forget the themed drinks and mocktails at the bar!), the plot could have been watching paint dry – and it would still have been unbelievably good.
Honestly, the vocals and the dancing just blew me away. Who ARE these people? Surely they don’t all have day jobs and just show up for a few weeks of rehearsal and put on something like this? Yet, as we all know if we are NCP patrons, the hits just keep coming.
There isn’t much more I can say here. And while tempting, I am avoiding dropping in some Olde English and all associated musical puns because I can’t possibly do it better than Something Rotten!
It is bawdy – and there is innuendo (well, pretty blatant innuendo). So if your kids are old enough to catch it, they should wait for the next production at NCP (James and the Giant Peach!).
But it is visually delicious with jaw dropping vocals, highly engaging, professionally produced, and SO MUCH FUN!
Thank you to Director JD Madsen, Music Director Justin Eisenbeis, and Choreographer Hannah Miller. Your efforts were extraordinary and much appreciated by this audience member who tries not to take it all for granted, but you’re making that awfully difficult.
Thank you Sam Ninegar and Will Yindrick and Xander Baker and Anna Metzger and Joe Hanson and Sophia Bartlett, and always, Christian Cardona – when I see your names on the cast list, I KNOW it will be out of this world good.
Thank you ensemble – wow, just wow. Your talent and energy make the show!
Stage, sound, lights, costumes – how do you keep raising the bar and raising the bar and…???
If you go: Unsurprisingly, the original production on Broadway ran for 708 performances. But you only have a few more chances to catch Rotten at NCP and you do not want to miss this one!! It runs April 10-12 and 17-19. Ticket information at: https://neplayhouse.com/
Reviewed by Barb Dorn, and written whilst enjoying her morning omelet.
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